The inaugural Sports Blog Index focused on college football and was measured using a combination of three criteria: influence, fan engagement and quality. Based on those standards, the top five highest scoring blogs were:

Immediately after the poll's release, rumors began to swirl that Benny and Yost would be forced to step down following a season that had started with so much promise but which ended with the MZone finishing unranked.

After the Colin Cowherd controversy in March, when the site got a Fark main page link and 40,000 visitors in a single day, hopes were high that this could be MZone's year to challenge Deadspin for the title.

But it was not to be.

After that big early season splash, fan outrage began to build as a result of a preponderance of anonymous Buckeye fans posting on the site and the sudden disappearance of the Blog Co-ed Showdown which had been a reader favorite. Many saw the number of Buckeye fans on the MZone and the lack of semi-naked former-ASU-cheerleaders-turned-porn-stars as proof that Benny and Yost had lost institutional control of the site.

Thus, the "Fire Benny and Yost" drumbeat began to build across the blogosphere with readers starting such websites as BennyAndYostSuckBigHairyMonkeyBalls.net, .com, .org and .uk in addition to scathing articles about the pair written by Detroit Free Press columnist Drew Sharp. Sharp has been especially critical of the MZone's Know Your Foe columns saying, "We already know who the foe is. It's in the schedule. How fucking lame."

ESPN radio even reported that former Miami head coach Larry Coker was being interviewed for the head MZone position, Rick Neuheisel was begging for it and Dennis Erickson had expressed interest even though he had just left Idaho for ASU two weeks ago.

But at a press conference yesterday, Benny said he and Yost had the full support of the administration and that the AD had given the pair a vote of confidence.

"Yost and I don't pay attention to that sort of talk. You media types listen to your eBays and your Internets too much. But it's not a truck you can just change the tires on. So we'll be here tomorrow doing what we do best -- finding YouTube clips so we don't have to create original content."

Yost also took a swipe at Nestor over at Bruins Nation who had been campaigning hard the last two weeks for his blog to get the number five slot.

"I don't appreciate some of the negative comments the Bruins Nation guy has been making about the MZone," said Yost who seemed to be referring to statements Nestor made saying that if the MZone got the number five spot, he wouldn't recognize them as part of the Sports Blog Index.

Nestor also had said repeatedly Bruins Nation had much tougher time blogging than the MZone. "They're a Michigan blog. How hard is it to blog about a team that was in the national title hunt all season? Try blogging about a Karl Dorrell-coached team some time and see if that doesn't make you want to sandpaper your balls. Plus, those caption contests of theirs? Suck-ola."

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